Secrets in the night
by Princess-p1n3apple
Summary: This is my first fanfic. It is a crossover between Dog the Bounty Hunter and the Avengers. Tonys baby sister was adopted by the Chapman family and Tony needs to rescue her. STONY
1. Chapter 1

The Secrets in The Night

 **Chapter One**

The day had started like any other. Melody had woken up at exactly six in the morning by her two overexcited puppies. The two husky cross breeds, Jinger who was crossed with a golden retriever and Gracie, the German Sheppard cross breed. Melody's third puppy a little king Charles cavalier was asleep on the bed next to Melody still, like a little tan, black and white angel. So Melody leaped out of bed and grabbed her gym clothes before pulling them on. By six fifteen Melody was stuffing her keys and earbuds with her phone into her pockets before pulling up her ombre hair a messy bun before tying up the laces of her sneakers before putting Gracie and Jinger on their leashes. They knew where they were going as they pulled down towards the beach taking the exact same route they took every day. They jogged along the beach towards Leland's house to collect his 20 year old son Dakota and their dogs to run the same ten kilometre route they did every day before jogging back to Melody's for breakfast and to get ready for work before driving to Leland's. Once back at Leland's they would all get into Leland's hummer to go to the office. Then they would work at the bonds office until four thirty. Unless there was a bounty to go on in which case the end of the day was if and when they caught the criminal. At the end of her working day Melody always took all three of the dogs for a walk before heading off to the gym to spar with Duane Lee and Leland. If they were busy Melody would focus on her strength and resistance training. Most days' Melody would just go home to make dinner before taking a dip in her swimming pool or take a walk on the beach before showering, getting into her pyjamas to watch the usual America trash TV with a plate of homemade dessert and a cup of tea.

This had been Melody's routine for years now except at weekends there was always someone at Melody's house one of her 'siblings' or another 'family' member even if they just wanted food. The routine had been going on ever since Barbara had died and the truth had been revealed. No one knew about the truth except Dakota. Barbara had left her a note telling her everything. She definitely did not want to talk to Leland or Dog about the truth because they would have told her if they wanted her to know about it but they had not so clearly they did not want her to know about it.

"Mel, wait up" Lyssa yelled sprinting down the beach towards Melody.

"What's wrong Lyssa?" asked Melody hoping that Lyssa would leave her to think about her life as she did every night on her walk along the beach.

"What's eating you up?" Lyssa asked she could see the shining lines down Melody's face where the tears had been running.

"Nothing" Melody replied sharply trying to shield the tears that threaten to spill down her cheeks from Lyssa.

"You have the same routine everyday" Lyssa explained trying to reach out to her sister in order to give her a hug but Melody pulled away and kept walking down the beach until she reached a rock where she sat and stared out at sea.

"BK knew some things about me and my family that I never wanted to know and when she died the week after my 16th birthday I was given a letter that she had hidden in her diary that was only to be opened by me. No one else" Melody explain trying to avoid speaking too fast or crying.

"What did it say?" asked Lyssa hoping that Melody trusted her enough to share the letters contents with her.

"I was adopted by Dog and Beth when I was two because Maria, my birth mom, couldn't cope with both me and Tony" Melody began to sob loudly before quickly regaining composure "anyway Tony was only seven at the time so he probably wouldn't remember me and I don't remember then either, it was for the best."

"When was someone going to tell you?" Lyssa asked now hugging her little sister as she sobbed on to her shoulder even though Lyssa was only a few months older than melody.

"On my eighteenth birthday everything was going to be revealed and I would have the option to return to Howard and Maria. But a few weeks before my sixteenth birthday Maria and Howard were killed and no one thought it was right to tell me but BK wrote it down in the back of her diary when she found out" Melody explained.

"Mel, do you know where Tony is?" Lyssa asked as she felt Melody shake her head against Lyssa's cheek. Lyssa had just worked out why Barbara had written all of this down, she knew that no one would tell Melody because her parents had died and at a guess this was only days before Barbara's own death.

Lyssa gently began leading Melody back to her house before carefully asking "you haven't told anyone have you?" trying to avoid offending her baby sister further.

"Dakota knows" Melody replied shakily "it would destroy their precious little hearts if I told them I knew"

"Well I'm sure the older kids will remember how you mysteriously appeared aged two one day" Lyssa pointed out matter-of-factly. Melody just nodded before steering Lyssa back to her house.

As soon as Melody opened the door Gracie and Jinger leapt on top of her and began licking her face, welcoming her home. Lyssa invited herself in before raiding her sister's bedroom finding her laptop and a bottle of for special occasion's scotch she had hidden next to Barbara's diary with the information in still in the original envelope as when she collected it from Barbara's house. Just then her phone began ringing loudly vibrating again her bottom from her shorts pocket. It was Dakota.

"Hey Kota what's wrong?" Melody asked

"I've had it with Dad and Grandpa. Are you at your place or still on the beach?" Dakota asked trying and failing to disguise the anger in his voice.

"I'm home, Lyssa is here and we can spar when you get here if you want I'm pretty anxious too" Melody replied trying not to worry too much.

"Is it okay if me and Arvie come over?" He asked sounding more calm.

"Sure. Why do you think I said we could spar when you got here? If I didn't want you here why would I have said that?" Melody replied guessing that it was what Leland and Dog had been talking about before she left.

"Yeah good point, Thank you, Love you" Dakota replied quickly.

"Love you too" she replied. Before hanging up.

Melody quickly jumped to her feet and closed the front door of her house before heading off up the stairs towards her bedroom where Lyssa had gone. Only to find Tess her King Charles Cavalier spaniel asleep on her bed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Lyssa" Melody screamed ruining around her house and garden desperately searching for her sister before running back to her bedroom to find Barbara's diary and the scotch she had hidden for special occasions and emergencies. Today was definitely an emergency situation. Also she needed a little bit of courage before she tells Lyssa everything.

It wasn't there. The truth. The last piece of Barbara. It was gone. No one except Lyssa and Dakota knew. Who had taken it? She kept frantically looking through her nightstand where she kept it. It wasn't there. It had been taken.

"Lyssa, Where are you?" she screamed while sobbing hoping she would come out sensing her sisters anxiety and panic.

As Dakota opened the front door of Melody's house he could hear someone crying. Secretly he knew it was safe but he didn't want to risk it especially Arvie following him inside so he motioned for them to turn around and go back outside to go to his car he knew that he had mace and a tazer in his kit bag.

"Wait here I'll be back in just one second" Dakota whispered at Arvie before running back to his car to grab the mace before running back up to Melody's front door.

His adrenalin was pumping. It felt like a bounty. It wasn't. Just good practice.

Carefully Dakota pushed open the door. Mace ready to fire. His instincts kicked in. Within ten minutes he had cleared the living room, kitchen, bathroom and hall way as well as the guest room. The only place left to check was Melody's bedroom. After finding out about Melody's true family Dakota hadn't called her anything expects Melody and it was taking its toll on him. It felt like she was slipping away. And whatever was behind that door could change his life. Maybe. Not definitely. Just maybe.

So with Arvie shadowing him he stepped closer to the open door. The sobbing grew louder.

"No one's in there other than Mel and you know it" Arvie hissed into his ear hoping Dakota would listen to her but he didn't.

"It could be a trap" he hissed back angrily.

Arvie knew that today Dakota was struggling with the anger which had built up inside him because of what Leland and Dog had said about their relationship. She knew it had hurt Dakota and made him doubt how supportive they really were and how much longer he could stay living with Leland. Dakota's trust was leaving him too. He stopped trusting his dad and grandad very quickly. He only trusted Melody and Arvie. Dakota was struggling without his mom too and the long list of women Leland constantly brought home did not help, not one bit. Melody had been the closest thing Dakota had to a mom.

"Well I'm going in" Arvie whispered softly before stepping towards the door when Dakota grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Together on three" Dakota spoke quietly knowing that the sobs would cover up any ability to hear what they were saying.

Together. Hands gripping onto each other for dear life. That's how they enter the room. Just as Arvie expected Melody was laid in the middle of her completely trashed bedroom.

It was unusual. Her whole house was usually clean and organised heading towards looking like the house of someone with OCD. Nothing was ever out of place. The bed never unmade. The sink clear of pots. The floor space entirely clear. What was going on?

Dakota was forcefully dragged out of his internal panic when he felt Arvie's hand leave his. She was walking towards Melody. Slowly. Trying not to startle her. She carefully sat down on the floor next to Dakota's crumbling aunt. Reached out and wrapped her arms around Melody. After about a minute Dakota joined them trying to make his aunt feel safe.

"What's up?" Arvie whisperer as she gently stroked Melody's hair.

"How much do you know?" Melody asked sniffling into Dakota's shoulder but lucky for her unlike his dad, Dakota didn't have an issue with germs.

"She knows everything" Dakota replied quietly expecting to be yelled at. But the barrage of screaming and yelling never arrived Melody just continued talking and snuffling as she went.

"I was coming in the door when Dakota rang. *snuffling* and Lyssa was with me. She had just *more snuffling* gone inside when I answered the phone." Melody's voice was growing more shaky the further into the story she went "she was looking for Barbara's diary; and when I got off the phone she wasn't here and neither is the diary, I've been looking for ages and I can't find her or the diary" another body wrenching sob was let out of Melody's positively minute body. Both Dakota and Arvie could feel her shaking underneath their arms. The dogs were snuffling around them too, trying to reach their owner.

"Lyssa won't have left" Arvie whispered wrapping her arms tighter around Melody.

"But my keys have gone" Melody sobbed back.

"I'll go check your car it was still in the parking lot when we arrived" Dakota explained before getting up and rushing towards the door in the hope that Lyssa would in fact be looking at BK's diary in the back of Melody's car.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Meanwhile back in the house Melody had managed to wriggle out of Arvie tight grip and began to clean up the house just as Leland arrived and kicked the door down. He checked every room in the same methodical way Dakota had but you could see the haze of anger which surrounded him even before he walked through the door to Melody's bedroom. By which point she was being held up entirely by Arvie as sobs ripped through her body, her breathing was becoming more irregular, the shakes getting stronger. Finally Arvie had to face the fact that it was easier to sit on the floor and hold Melody than trying to keep her upright.

"What have you done to her?" Leland yelled scaring Arvie to point at which she was shaking as his heavy combat boots stomped closer shaking the wooden floor beneath them. But he was not done yet. "Found everything you were looking for, slag?" he growled before continuing on again "where is my son? Why is my sister crying? And where on earth is Lyssa?"

Arvie bit her tongue until she could taste the metallic coppery tasted of blood filling her mouth. She was biting back her biggest fear, Dakota's family killing her, and her sarcastic comments which were threatening to burst out of her mouth. They mainly related to Melody and the truth. She hated Dakota's family and they hated her with all the passion in their hearts and nothing could or would ever change that.

"Melody is the best person in this family and she's not even related to you. Why would I hurt her?" Arvie yelled as Jinger rested her head on Arvie's lap trying to calm her.

Leland continued getting closer before reaching out to grab Arvie's hair ready to yank her away from his poor, defenceless baby sister. He had just reached her hair when he heard Dakota's voice.

"You have no right to speak to my girlfriend like that, no right to demand her to do things and most of all no right to speak to Melody like that she didn't choose us." Dakota could feel the anger rising up in his chest but it felt so good to finally stand up for himself say what he had been feeling for months.

"Never talk to me like that again boy" Leland growled back "we'll deal with this later"

"No you won't Dakota is staying here with Melody" Lyssa yelled trying her best to sound as authoritative as possible towards her elder brother "she needs _".

"Sorry to disturb your little family argument but Melody has passed out" Arvie quietly cut off Lyssa mid sentence but it was important. Dakota immediately grabbed his phone and called Beth even though they had argued Beth was also the grandma he needed, the mom to all the Chapman kids and definitely the best in an emergency. Lyssa called 911 to get an ambulance there as soon as possible. Melody's breathing was becoming more and more shallow and sporadic.

And all Leland did was freeze he knew he could not lose her she was his baby sister and no one in the world was more important to him than her. Had he caused it? The yelling, it was different this time. So different. Usually her breathing would be evening out and consciousness returning but it wasn't. Had it finally got too much for her? Was another of his sisters about to die? The sirens pulled him out of his daydream but he was still paralysed. He couldn't move. His limbs felt like lead. Impossible to move no matter how hard he tried. It was like he was watching his own death. But it wasn't. It was Melody instead.

She was put in the ambulance with Lyssa holding her hand as Beth came to collect Dakota, Arvie and Leland. But he was still stood staring at the spot then he noticed. The photo of two people discarded in a broken photo frame laid on the floor. He picked it up carefully avoiding the shattered pieces of glass which threatened to stab into his fingers.

"Leland, are you coming?" Beth asked gently from the door.

"No I'll stay here, they probably won't want to see me but thank you for asking" Leland replied quietly hearing Beth's footsteps retreating back towards the car outside and then the car leaving crunching on the gravel as it went. He knew she wanted to comfort him and tell him it wasn't his fault but everyone knew not to cross Leland when he was angry or annoyed.

He glanced at the photo, it wasn't dad, Beth or any of the family so who were they and why was their photo in his sister's apartment? He carefully set the photo back down onto the nightstand when he noticed some pieces of paper fall from the back of the frame. They were scattered on the floor, a few burnt around the edges, a few with blood on the edges. One by one he picked them up noticing some swirly, neat handwriting on the back of a few of them.

A newspaper clipping with the headline 'Stark Industries in turmoil after death of Howard'. Another 'Tony Stark kidnapped'. Then he noticed a photo of two young children one about a year old and another around six, when he turned it over there was a handwritten note.

'To my beautiful baby girl, we will always love you, I am very sorry. I hope I will see you again someday. Love always Mommy, Daddy and Anthony.'

Leland dropped it instantaneously. Who was Melody and what had happened?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Leland quickly realised that he had to find out what Melody had been hiding from them. And the best way to do that was to snoop. Surely somewhere Melody would have hidden more information about these people, whoever they were. So Leland started in her bedroom where he had found the pictures and the newspaper cuttings.

So he slowly opened her nightstand draws until he reached the bottom draw. He couldn't open it, somehow it was locked shut but there was no key or a place to put a key either so it was going to have to be broken open. Leland carefully kicked the side of the draws hoping it was going to be easy to break them open. But in typical Melody style it had to be more difficult than it seemed. The harder Leland kicked the draw the more resistance it seemed to put up. The stronger it seemed. It was just like the draw was fighting back.

After three hours finally the draws started to crack, split underneath Leland's heavy combat boots the contents falling on to Melody's bedroom carpet. A wallet, a purse, photos, newspapers and jewellery. What was Melody hiding? What had she been doing? Who was she?

Leland immediately started to think the worst, the items in that draw, the security. Melody was a thief. In his eyes. She must have stolen them why else were they locked away. But he had to find out what was really going on. Leland ran out to his car grabbed the gloves he kept on his belt for searching fugitives before pulling them on and running upstairs knowing if Melody died the whole apartment would become a crime scene so he had to work fast.

Leland decided to start even though it was three in the morning. First job was to find out what all the stuff was before piecing together Melody's story, finding out what had happened and why she had all the things in her nightstand that she did as well as discovering what the draw was made of that could fight back against Leland's kick.

This could take weeks before Leland could completely discover what had happened and time was running out quickly so he had to start searching for answers. So he started with the wallet, slowly opening it he found credit cards, hundreds of dollars and not much else. Leland went into bounty mode pulling out every card, every bill emptying the whole thing on to Melody's bed. Before checking every single card, every bill, every dime. There was at least two thousand dollars in hundred dollar bills and about fifteen cards all under Howard Stark. Whoever he was he had a history with Melody. Finally all that was left was the wallet its self; Leland carefully looked at it trying to see what he hoped and believed was there. The answer or at least a clue and there it was the logo on the front. The Captain America logo, it was a button that opened a secret front compartment which held a photo of a little boy who only looked about two and then a small post stamp sized photo of a young girl who looked a similar age to the boy. There were no notes about who the children were.

Next Leland opened the woman's purse finding a large wallet, filo fax, a handkerchief and a notebook. Leland tipped the bag upside down emptying the contents on to the bed. Many smaller items fell out of the bag including lipstick and a small plastic bag containing some keys at a guess for a car.

The bag was labelled up as evidence for the murder of Howard and Maria Stark. Also there was a larger bag, large enough to fit the whole purse in. This was labelled for the death of Maria Stark. Whatever had happened both Maria and Howard must be dead.

Next Leland carried on searching through the wallet finding more pictures of the same boy and girl. The boy seemed to vary in age from a little baby up to a man about twenty but the girl was always aged between newborn and two. Never any older. The wallet also contained some dollars but not nearly as many as the man's wallet.

There was also the filo fax from ten years ago around the time that Barbara had died. As he looked through the diary he noticed that there were only events leading up to September and no more. He carefully walked over to the newspaper article showing the death of Howard Stark it was dated May 3rd 2006. Only two weeks before Barbara died. That may explain why the diary was only filled to September and no further.

The sun rise was casting a burning orange light into the bedroom. It leaked through Melody's curtains like spilled orange juice. Setting and an eerie glow across room making it appear like the whole room may spontaneously burst into flames.

All that was left was the notebook. It was leather bound with a message on the front 'My dearest Maria. For things close to your heart. You will be in my heart forever and always Howard' as Leland opened the notebook he noticed some of the pages were tinged with smoke and others covered with blood.

By the time Leland had finished reading the book it was already lunchtime but he didn't feel like eating; luckily enough it was Sunday so he was not expected to be at work so no one would notice his disappearance meaning he could work all day and night if he needed to. The draw itself was some type of advanced technology which Leland could not understand so he gave up for today and get some sleep.

As Leland walked down the hall towards the guest bedroom it felt wrong that he was still in his sister's home while she was in hospital. Leland then went to shower; he needed to remove the dirt and grime of a long day crime fighting and then Melody's disappearance he was well overdue a shower and possibly a spar with Sonny.

So Leland walked back to the en suite attached to Melody's bedroom in order to have a shower and find some fresh clothes. He wasn't leaving in case someone tried to ransack the apartment after seeing Melody leave in the ambulance. It was too risky. So he slipped into Melody's shower grabbing her shampoo and shower gel to use on the way past the medicine cabinet. Then he noticed. There was a small music box which was just propped open by a chain. So Leland walked back to the cabinet, carefully picked up the box trying not to break it but it was tiny, old and extremely fragile. Knowing that Melody would know as soon as she got home that he had been through all of her things, searching for the secrets she hid. So Leland placed the music box on the counter carefully opening the lid to reveal a set of rings and two necklaces. The rings looked like wedding bands. What was Melody hiding? Leland had to tell Dog or Beth. Or at least ask the questions he should have asked years ago.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Beth had been sat at the hospital with Dakota and Arvie for about 20 hours and no one would tell them anything about what had happened to Melody and how she was doing. Dakota and Arvie had fallen asleep together on the hospital chairs across the other side of the waiting room. At the moment it looked liked Melody would never wake up again. Beth was facing losing another of her daughters and to be honest she couldn't face it. Her anxiety was building when her phone rang. It was Leland.

"Leland how's it?" Beth asked trying to remain calm.

"What do you know about Melody's past?" Leland asked hoping she knew something.

"Not a lot" Beth responded "I was a bit before I officially moved in to the house, so no one told me everything just the essential things I needed to know"

"Okay we need a family meeting now" Leland said "can you come to Melody's apartment"

"Sure we aren't getting anywhere here" Beth responded

Beth hung up and walked over to the sleeping Dakota and Arvie knowing that she had to wake them and take them to Melody's apartment so Beth gently shook Dakota's shoulder. He woke up with a start which quickly woke Arvie up too.

"What is it? Is Melody awake?" Dakota asked breathlessly. All Beth could do was shake her head seeing how happy he was when he thought Melody was awake.

"We need a family meeting at Melody's" Beth explained before walking over to the nurses' station to tell them to alert her if Melody's condition changed at any point while they were not there. Dakota and Arvie had already walked over to Beth's car and were sat on the backseat asleep again after their extremely eventful day.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

When Beth finally arrived at Melody's house Lyssa, Leland, Duane Lee and Dog were all waiting for her, Dakota and Arvie. Beth carefully woke up Dakota who picked up Arvie who was still asleep; Beth began walking up the drive towards Melody's house followed by Dakota carrying a sleeping Arvie. She could hear voices. People shouting.

"What? And you never thought to tell anyone" Leland yelled at someone inside the anger was visible in his voice.

"I only found out tonight, I'm sorry. You shouldn't have snooped anyway" Lyssa yelled back at Leland.

"Kids stop now what would Melody say?" Dog asked calmly as Beth walked up to the door gently twisting the handle and opening the door.

"What so do we know?" Beth asked as she walked in the door "and why are we arguing?"

As Dakota walked through the door still carrying Arvie the yelling began again.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Leland yelled waking up Arvie with a start.

"STOP NOW" Beth shouted over the growing kerfuffle of the whole family shouting at each other "Dakota could you please explain what is going on"

"Sure" Dakota replied going to sit on the edge of Melody's couch placing Arvie gently next to him "Melody was given Barbara's diary after she died, Barbara had written everything she knew about Melody's adoption into the family, she knew about Tony and their parents, who Melody really was. Obviously Melody was distraught and wanted to contact him but didn't know if he was still alive, she was scared of what might happen so never did"

"Okay, we are going to do this like a bounty, we need everything you have on Tony and Barbara's diary too, he needs to know what has happened" Beth responded as Leland ran towards Melody's bedroom to pick up the newspaper cuttings and the music box from the bathroom.

Three hours later they had everything they needed. A name Tony Stark. A phone number and address in New York. So they rang the number hoping to find Tony Stark and bring his baby sister back to him. Beth called the number.

"Hello, Stark Industries, Pepper Potts speaking" answer the lady on the other end of the phone.

"Hi, I don't suppose I could speak to an Anthony Edward Stark could I?" Beth asked as politely as she could.

"Who is calling?" asked Pepper on the end of the phone.

"Its Beth Chapman, Howard knew my husband's family apparently" Beth replied being agitated.

"Actually Mrs Chapman the name does sound familiar. Do you want me to put you through to Tony or can I deal with this?" asked Pepper politely as she thought about what the problem could be, no one had heard from the Chapman's since just after Howard and Maria's death.

"I'm not really sure Ms Potts, the issue is with my adopted daughter and I hoped Tony could shed some light on it but I don't really know what I'm going to say" Beth responded

"Okay I'll put you through to Tony if he actually answers the phone. Just wait a moment while I try to call him" Pepper replied hoping for Beth's sake Tony was in a fit state to speak to her.

As Beth sat on hold she tried to think about what to tell him and how to phrase the issue facing them. Meanwhile Pepper rang Tony.

"Hey Pep what's up?" Tony asked cheerfully, he was in a good mood and not completely drunk for the first time in about ten years.

"Tony when you went through Howards stuff did you find anything to do the Chapman family" Pepper asked.

Tony thought about this for quite a while but the name meant nothing to him "No sorry Pep I don't recognise the name. Why?"

"Tony right now on hold is the adoptive mom of your baby sister so I think now might be a good time to do some digging" Pepper stated in her best authoritative voice, she knew Tony would probably be in shock on the other end of the phone "and her name is Beth Chapman."

"Okay I'll get JARVIS on it now, put her through" Tony answered before ordering JARVIS to search through Howard's information for the Chapman family.

Pepper took Beth off hold and put her through to Tony.

"Hello, you must be Anthony Stark" Beth said as soon as she was put through she could feel the anxiety bubbling up inside her as she began speaking.

"Please call me Tony. So Beth how can I help you?" Tony asked fearing the worst had happened.

"How much do you know?" Beth asked hoping Tony knew the exact situation that they were.

"Not much my decoding program is running a little slow today so I'm afraid I don't know much" Tony replied trying to be as calm and polite as he could.

"Well my understanding is that we adopted Melody when she was two years old because your mom couldn't take her to safety and your dad didn't want her in the house because he only needed one heir to his empire and that was you. After that we hid the truth from her and was going to keep it that way until she turned eighteen then she had a choice to go back to New York or stay with us but your parents died before then so she never was told by us but Barbara left her a note with all of the information in and other stuff before she died" Beth explained as Tony was trying not to snort ay this stupid sob story that the woman had concocted.

"I know I'm a billionaire and genius but this story is so stupid none of this ever happened you just want my money" he yelled down the phone at Beth just as JARVIS brought up all the information from Howards files, it was all true.

"If that's what you believe then fine but don't come to the funeral" Beth growled back at him, Tony was speechless and not in a good way.

"Look I'm sorry I didn't mean to yell, my program has finished and it's all true" Tony replied "Melody really is my sister"

"Okay now you believe me, I need to tell you something" Beth responded

"What's wrong with Melody?" Tony asked feeling the fear rise up inside him. What had happened to his baby sister? He had only known about her for a few moments but he felt the need to protect her. To keep her safe.

"Melody is in hospital she had a panic attack but she's still not woke up yet and we don't know what to do" Beth replied "in case she never wakes up I wanted you to know about her"

"I can pay for the best doctors, I could save her, if you trust me enough to let me try" Tony said hoping Beth would agree and let Tony move Melody to New York.

"Okay, it's probably for the best" Beth replied "hold on just a second I need to talk to my grandson"

Tony knew something had happened and it was scaring him so he called Pepper down to his lab in the hope that she could help.

"Tony we need to do something now, she's getting worse, and she might not even make it through the night" Beth sounded panicked.

"Okay I'll get her transferred to the tower now" Tony replied before yelling at Pepper to get it done "we'll get something sorted I'll be in Hawaii in about 30 minutes" Tony said before hanging up.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Within thirty minutes the whole Chapman family was sat at the hospital waiting for Tony Stark to arrive. He was going to travel 4,900 miles for a girl he had never met in 30 minutes no less. He must be crazy.

The hospital doors flew open with the following commotion the Chapman's suddenly became aware that Tony Stark had just entered the building and now the whole hospital was in melt down. Everyone wanted to know why he was there and wanted photos or signatures.

"Hi" Tony said looking carefully at the family all sat anxiously in the waiting room. They were the only ones not running at him wanting signatures or photos. It must be the Chapman's.

"Hi, I'm Duane Chapman" said a man with a blonde mullet, tan and jailhouse style tattoos "but everyone calls me Dog. This is my wife Beth" he said indicating to a blonde lady with huge boobs who looked like Tony's perfect type of girl but he wasn't in to that anymore "and my children Leland, Duane Lee and Lyssa as well as my grandson, Dakota and his girlfriend Arvie" indicating to the younger people who were in the room. You could cut the tension with a knife it was that tense.

"Hi, I'm Tony Stark also known as Ironman in case you didn't recognise me_" Tony began before being interrupted by another person entering the room and the same kerfuffle as before when Tony entered. "I thought I told you to wait outside until I was done" Tony growled at Capsicle who had just walked into the waiting room after being bombarded by the hoards of people wanting to know why the Avengers were in Hawaii.

"Sorry, babe but Fury is getting annoyed and you still haven't explained why we are here" Captain America explained "also Loki has disappeared from the tower so we need to get back"

"Okay I'll get what we need and finish up here" Tony said " Do any of you have any issues with me taking Melody back to New York with me?" glancing at the Chapman's who just sat and looked at Tony in shock. The avengers were taking Melody.

"There are just a few things I'd like to sort first" a young man about twenty said staring at Tony

"What is it Dakota?" a young girl asked who Tony presumed was Arvie.

"What will happen with Melody's puppies and can I visit Melody" Dakota said

"Of course" replied Captain America aka Steve Rogers

"As long as the puppies don't pee in my house or I'll put them on the streets myself." Tony snapped

"Tony be nice" the captain scolded

"Okay I'm sorry" Tony replied looking at Dakota again "Arvie can come too if she wants"

"Thank you" Dakota said getting up "should I go to get the dogs"

"No, I'll get Thor to go, it'll be quicker" Captain replied smiling at the two twenty year olds.

"Right let's get Melody and go" Tony said walking towards Melody's room.

As Tony and Steve walked towards Melody's room they could hear a voice. Talking. And it sure wasn't Melody. It sounded like Loki. So Tony and Steve just stood listening. It was Loki. So holding hands with Tony, Steve opened the door to reveal Loki singing in ancient Norse holding Melody's hand. He knew it was Tony and Steve stood behind him but he didn't stop until the end of the song.

"She's beautiful isn't she" Loki said "you'd never know how fierce she is when she's awake."

"Why are you here with my baby sister?" growled Tony at Loki.

"She's my best friend alright and if Odin hadn't taken my powers and made me mortal. I could have helped her" Loki said as the tears silently ran down his face. He had let his best friend down and he didn't know how to help her.

"Okay well can we just concentrate on getting Melody back to New York and out of the woods, please" Tony whispered feeling genuinely touched by Loki's commitment to Melody.

"Okay" Steve said hugging the genius "can you fly her back to the helicarrier or do you want some else to come and fetch her?"

"I can't leave her now I'll take her back" Tony replied as the tears slid down his face. He was shaking in his amour as Steve reached up to his comms unit next to his ear.

" _Tony's on his way back now" Steve said, everyone knew that was a message for Bruce so ignored it._

"Let's go, I'll check on Dakota and Arvie" Steve replied gently kissing Tony.

Tony walked towards Melody's bed, before carefully picking her up off the bed trying not to hurt her any further. He knew it wasn't just a panic attack. It was something more. Something more serious. He needed to get Melody to the helicarrier now.

" _Bruce…" Tony sharply said in to his comms_

" _Yes Tony" Bruce replied_

" _Its Melody, I don't think it was just a panic attack" Tony replied shaking in his armour still._

" _Okay bring her up to the helicarrier now and I'll have a look" Bruce responded._

So uncharacteristically Tony did as he was told which was shocking to all the avengers. He didn't fight against them. Tony seemed totally destroyed, almost subdued and quiet. The jokes and sarcasm were long gone and the only thing he cared about was his sister. He could nearly remember those two years when Gabriella Sophia Stark was a baby. Over the past twenty four years the hope that Tony would ever find his baby sister had slipped away. After all Howard had told Tony that she had died in his arms after a tragic accident and that she would never come back. Right now he hoped that the woman he was holding now known as Melody was really Gabby.

" _Tony quickly" yelled Bruce through the comms_

" _Yeah sorry" Tony replied feeling flustered_

" _I'll sort the Chapman's go" replied Steve_

" _Thank you" Tony replied_

He slowly walked back towards the door of the hospital room when it opened. It was a man about forty, with a long braid and tattoo sleeves. He was holding a bag full of things; it looked like an evidence bag.

"I wouldn't go that way the crazed fans and paps are everywhere" he said looking directly into Tony's chocolate brown eyes with his own dark brown eyes "anyway I want you to have this" he said handing over the evidence bag "it's everything Barbara left Melody _"

"Gabriella" Tony corrected

"Sorry I didn't realise that she had a different name." Leland replied still staring directly at Tony, he could see the tears that were streaming down his face "anyhow they are her prized possessions, she looks like you too and you better look after her is going to be strange in the office without her now" Leland said sadly feeling the tears prickly the corners of his eyes and his mouth going dry.

"Thank you for everything" Tony whispered "I'd love to stay and chat more about my sister but if I don't get her to New York soon she might die"

"Okay, goodbye" Leland whispered before gently kissing Melody on the head "I love you and I'm sorry for what I did"

"Come and visit sometime" Tony said sliding the face plate into place and opening the window before slipping outside onto the window ledge.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Tony prepared for takeoff before powering up the suit and saluting to Leland. As he took off he held on to his baby sister. He could see the helicarrier getting closer and closer until they were nearly level with it. Tony mentally prepared himself for the chaos which would ensue when he enter the helicarrier with his sister. Slowly Tony began to land on the runway on the top of the helicarrier as soon as his metal clad feet hit the runway he began running towards the door. Once he was inside the helicarrier he immediately realised that running in the helicarrier wearing an ironman suit was not the best idea. So somehow he would need to get it off. But Tony didn't stop to take the suit off he just took off running towards the medical bay when he saw Bruce running towards him "Take her, I need to go and help Steve" he replied breathlessly.

"Tony you aren't leaving I'll need your help" Bruce replied

"Why?" Tony asked "can't Nat or Clint help instead"

"I had JARVIS do a scan as soon as you landed on the runway with her, she's badly injured" Bruce replied

"Alright" Tony responded "JARVIS suit off" as the AI started to convert the suit back into the briefcase it was before he had to fetch his sister "thanks Jay"

"To the med bay" Bruce said as he began running down the halls of the helicarrier.

"okay JARVIS do a fully body scan" Tony commanded laying his sister down on to one of the stretchers that lined the walls of the med bay before getting scrubs and gloves to put on in the worst case scenario that they had to perform surgery.

"Sir, it appears that your patient has had blunt trauma to her ribs breaking at least three on the right side, additionally she has a concussion and a sprain to her left wrist. Furthermore she needs a blood transfusion as it looks as if she has lost about four pints of blood due to the gash up her left hand side" JARVIS informed Tony and Bruce.

"What do we do first then Brucey" Tony asked glancing across at his science bro.

"I'm guessing stitches and blood" Bruce replied "if she keeps losing blood this quickly she could die"

"Okay what blood type is she?" Tony asked hoping that she was A positive like him.

"JARVIS?" Bruce asked

"A Positive, sir" JARVIS replied

"Okay Brucey hook me up to her" Tony replied pulling another stretcher across next to his sister before sitting on it himself.

"I don't know if this is a good idea Tony she needs about four pints of blood and if you lose that much you'll be in the same position as her" Bruce gently prompted

"We need to find some else then" Tony said

"Okay I'll look at everyone else's and see what they are" Bruce said before pulling up the data of the rest of the Avengers. "There's no one but you I'm sorry, we can't use me for obvious reasons Steve, Thor and Loki are all B and Nat is O negative so is Clint and Rhodey is AB positive"

"In that case can we do two pints today and two tomorrow" Tony asked hopefully "can we start now"

"Yeah if we get blood in her now and then stitch her up she might at least make it to tomorrow" Bruce said picking up the essential equipment that he needed "okay lay down, this may hurt a little bit"

"Okay just do it" Tony replied as Bruce carefully inserted the needle into Tony's vein and then sorted out transfusing the blood into his sister. Tony couldn't watch. Bruce was hurting his baby sister and the needle hurt too also Tony really didn't want to watch his blood leave his body either. Bruce then began to stitch the gash in Tony's sister's side. It was deep. After 15 minutes Bruce had finally manage to stitch up both the skin and muscle in her left side.

"Tony I'm all done you can look now" Bruce said looking across at Tony who had his eyes closed "you do know you're stuck like this for the next three hours don't you"

"Yeah but she's worth it" Tony replied looking at his baby sister "I never told you her name, did I?" Bruce simply shook his head "her name is Gabriella Sophia Stark" Tony said sadly as he plaited her hair.

The door to the med bay opened revealing the other Thor with three puppies followed by Loki, Clint and Natasha. They all slowly walked towards Tony and Bruce being careful to be quiet in case they woke up Tony's sister. Tony knew that the rest of the Avengers who had just entered the room were all trying to be respectful of her but it felt like Gabriella had died and everyone was walking around on egg shells.

"If they pee anywhere inside the tower I will personally abandon them in Central Park" Tony said trying to make someone laugh but they all looked utterly disgusted at him instead.

"She's beautiful" Clint said stepping further forward towards the bed where Gabby was laid.

"Yes she is truly gorgeous" Thor said carefully moving the stray piece of hair from her forehead as Loki carefully crouched down next to his best friend, the tears began falling down his cheeks again.

"When will she be awake" Loki asked staring at Bruce

"We hope she'll start getting better in a few hours" Bruce said to Loki "why don't we see if she's any better when we get back to New York"

"Okay, well I'm stuck here until then and has anyone been to fetch Steve from the hospital" Tony said everyone shook their heads "Point break can you go fetch Steve, Dakota and Arvie please"

"Yes, I'll be right back" Thor replied before walking out of the door. Natasha, Clint and Loki all walked forwards towards Tony and his sister.

"I suggest we leave and let Tony sleep" Bruce prompted "I'll be back to check on you both in about an hour"

As the rest of the avengers began to file out Tony's eyelids began to drift closed. He was tired. Today had been one of the most eventful days the Avengers had had in a while.

Over the next two hours Bruce checked on Tony and his sister multiple times being very careful not to wake either of them.

When they finally arrived back at stark tower the team very carefully moved them to the medical level of the tower, leaving them to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Melody could hear voices around her. She tried to open her eyes but she couldn't it felt like someone had stitched her eyelids shut. It didn't sound like Hawaii. The traffic was too loud. And it was not the Chapman's who were talking around her. So she concentrated determined to find out where she was. She could hear someone talking. It wasn't any one from Hawaii. Their accent was a thick Brooklyn accent.

"Tony, why did you do it?" asked a man "you shouldn't do this, it could kill you, it's you or her and right now I'm worried that you are choosing her, what would happen to me if you died, hey? I wouldn't cope, I can't live without you"

Slowly Melody opened her eyes. The glowing walls and ceiling shocked Melody's eyes. It was like being in a hospital. The question was where? She could hear the all too familiar sound of heart rate monitors. She could feel the needles in her arm. The pain came in short; sharp bursts as she tried to move. The right side of her ribs. Her left hand side hurt. Melody tried to look around, she could see a brunette man laid on the stretcher bed thing next to her. He looked completely at peace. He was asleep. Then she noticed the blonde man sat hold his hand with his back towards her. There was a line of tube connecting her to him. She could see the blood running through it. Quickly glancing at monitors she knew that she would be just fine if she pulled the needle out of her arm, she couldn't hurt anyone else. So carefully she unpeeled the tape and pulled out the needle being careful to stick the tape back round the needle.

"Please don't move" the man said as he noticed the girl moving "JARVIS please_"

"I'm so glad you're awake now" another brunette said walking out of the elevator and slowly getting closer to her "now I know you're probably very confuse _"

"You don't say" the girl quipped back at him.

"She's feisty just like me" the man on the bed said tiredly "now baby sister you are in New York, I'm Tony Stark your big brother, this is our resident doctor, Bruce Banner" he said indicating towards the man who was now putting a bandage on her wrist that was sprained "this is my boyfriend and the team leader, Steve Rogers"

"Hi, I'm Melody Chapman" said the girl on the bed.

"Sorry, sweetie but they've been lying to you, your real name is Gabriella Sophia Stark but I suppose we can work on the name" Tony said smiling at her.

"Do you two want to go upstairs?" Bruce asked kindly "but on one condition you have to sit on the couch and not move"

Both Tony and Gabby nodded at him before both getting up off the med beds and walking towards the elevator.

"Not so fast" yelled Steve who managed to pick up both Gabby and Tony with ease.

"Stop" yelled Bruce "turn" Steve followed the doctors commands turning around to face him "I need to tape Gabby's ankle" Steve slowly put Melody on the closest stretcher so Bruce could tape her ankle.

"No its fine, I've had worst" Gabby said before getting up off the stretcher and walking over to the elevator "and can we please sort out the name thing?"

"Sure what's it going to be?" Tony asked

"I don't know, I grew up being Melody Chapman, my whole life is Melody Chapman" she sobbed

"Okay then, Melody Chapman it is then" Tony replied

"No, I'd feel like I was cheating on my fami… you" she sobbed staring at her brother.

"Okay well then we will mix the two names and you can be both parts of you." Tony suggested

"No, I've got it Gabby Melody Sophia Stark" she suggested, all the men in room nodded as Gabby pressed a random one of the buttons in the elevator. "JARVIS can you please sent me to the communal areas of the tower preferably somewhere with a couch"

"Yes madam, I am sending you to the communal living area" JARVIS replied

"Thank you" Gabby responded as the elevator doors slid open revealing a large room with a giant television, white couches and panoramic views of New York. It was like a dream home. So Gabby carefully and slowly headed towards the couch, she just needed to sit down, it felt like she was going to pass out.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

When the elevator arrived at the communal levels of the tower and the doors opened Tony immediately looked around searching for his baby sister, but she wasn't there.

"JARVIS, where is Gabby?" Tony asked his AI

"Lying on the couch to left of the television, she has been asleep for the past five minutes" the AI responded.

When Gabby woke up she was shocked to see that the once empty living area was now filled with six new people and then Loki, Bruce, Steve and Tony. She suddenly felt anxious and wanted to disappear or at least go back to sleep until they left. She slowly sat up noticing Bruce was sat next to her watching her every move very closely. She felt an arm wrap around her waist and gently begun to hold her up and stroking her hip bone in some form of comforting motion to keep her calm.

"They don't bite I promise" Bruce carefully whispered into her ear.

She suddenly realised that everyone's attention was on her. Six pairs of new eyes all focusing on her. She felt a blush creeping up her cheeks as Tony carefully moved from the love seat him and Steve were sharing to come and sit down next to her, he could see her fight or flight mechanism was very close to going off and no one knew what would happen. He leaned in closer "Is there anyone we could call for you?" he carefully whispered expecting Gabby to say no but she nodded.

"Pass me the phone" she whispered back as Tony pulled out his cell.

Melody very carefully dialled the number she knew off by heart even if she hadn't rung him in a while.

 _"Hey, it's Mel" Gabby carefully said into the phone "can you come to Stark tower please" she asked hoping he would agree to visit her. "Okay sees you soon"_

"He'll be here in about 10 minutes" Gabby said out loud, avoiding everyone's glance.

"Okuay, meet the rest of the team" Tony said trying to make his baby sister look up, it wasn't working.

The elevator door slid open revealing an angry looking Loki "why the hell you didn't tell me that Melody was awake and that you had moved her to the living area?" he yelled at the Avengers.

"Loki?" Gabby whispered staring at the black haired ex-god who was wearing a green hoodie, black skinny jeans and converse that slowly walked over to the couch and sat on the floor in front of Gabby.

"Anyway back to the team" Tony said "this is Pepper Potts , my personal assistant, best friend and CEO of Stark Industries" Tony explained pointing at a strawberry blonde woman wearing a white skirt suit and heels "This is James Rhodes or Rhodey my other best friend, also known as War Machine" Tony continued on gesturing to the man in an air force uniform "That's Clint Barton also known as Hawkeye and his boyfriend Agent" gesturing to a blonde man and brunette man who were sitting one of the other couches.

"Phil Coulson, agent of SHIELD" the brunette man said.

"That's Thor, my adopted brother and god of thunder" Loki said pointing to a large blonde man "and Natasha Romanoff, my other best friend and assassin, Black Widow" then the redhead who was making coffee in the kitchen area.

"Hi, I'm Tony's baby sister" Gabby said quietly.

"Don't you have a name?" Phil asked looking at the young girl trying not to scare her.

"We are working on it" Tony jumped in to defend his sister. Both Tony and Melody noticed the strange stares they received from the rest of the group so Tony instinctively continued "at the minute it's Gabby but she was called Melody by the Chapman's and Gabriella Sophia by the Starks. It may take a while to organise"

"Miss Stark, your guest has arrived. He's currently in the elevator on the way up to the communal level" JARVIS said as soon as Tony finished speaking.

"Thank you JARVIS" Gabby responded.

"Any clues on who it is or do I have to wait like everyone else?" Tony asked his baby sister who immediately shook her head so Tony shuffled closer to her and began tickling Gabby's sides until she couldn't breathe.

"Stop that Tony" Bruce yelled from the kitchen area "you might make her worst"

"Yeah, yeah I get it" Tony sighed rolling his eyes at his science bro "Tasha please come an collect your grumpy, boring half and teach him how to have a good time" Tony teased.

Just as Natasha was walking towards Bruce the elevator door slid open revealing a man who was about six feet tall with light brown curly hair who was wearing a green waistcoat, purple shirt, trousers and coat with brown shoes and purple gloves. He had white face paint and black eye make up with a large red drawn on smile. Everyone turned and looked towards the elevator and the man inside.

"Hi, I'm looking for Melody" the man said looking boldly as he briskly stepped out of the elevator.

"For the love of God couldn't you dress like a normal person?" Gabby growled from her seat next to Tony on the couch.

"Sorry I was at work" The man replied slowly walking closer to Gabby. He leant down almost as if to kiss her before Gabby slapped him on the cheek.

"Like hell you're kissing me looking like than" Gabby said

"How long is this going to take?" the man asked impatiently still staring at Gabby who quickly looked towards Tony and then across the room gauging the rest of the avenger's reactions. They all looked slightly scared. Bruce's grasp on Gabby had significantly tightened since the man had walked in, Natasha and Phil had their guns aimed at his back, Clint was ready to shoot, Loki was playing with an energy ball, Thor had his Mjölnir raised. Rhodey had disappeared and had probably gone to collect his War Machine suit.

"Yeah, it could take a while, go wash that rubbish off your face and come back here, JARVIS will direct you" Gabby said still staring at him before turning to the rest of the avengers "the rest of you calm down"

As the lift doors closed and the lift began to move down the levels the avengers all lowered their weapons and slowly relaxed again.

"So who is he?" Tony asked looking at his sister.

"He is my best friend; we started dating about three months ago but he's been working away." Gabby explained to her big brother.

"And he came all the way here on a whim" Tony asked

"Yeah, he's working on a movie further down the road" Gabby explained as the elevator doors slid open.

"Hi, is this better sweetie?" asked the man as he walked over towards Gabby who was now gently nodding as he bent down and placed a kiss on Gabby's lips.

"Brother present" Tony spat staring at the couple.

"We can fix that" Steve whispered into Tony's ear gently shuffling closer kissing his boyfriends cheek and slowly working his way up towards Tony's mouth. Tony started reciprocating very quickly.

"Everyone this is Heath, my boyfriend" Gabby began as all the Avengers apart from Steve and Tony were looking at the man who was now stood by the couch "TONY" Gabby growled as Tony and Steve continued their make out session on the couch. She fit in perfectly.

"Sorry Gabs" Steve apologised as a blush crept up his cheeks.

"Its fine Steve, where was I" Gabby said turning to the rest of the people in the room "this is Heath my boyfriend; he's an actor from Australia"

"Hey" Heath said "how are you guys?" the avenger quickly mumbled affirmative responses to Heath who was settling down on the couch next to Gabby.

"Hi, I'm Pepper, Mr Stark's CEO and assistant" Pepper said walking over to the elevator "but I need to go back to work now, I'll see you tomorrow Tony"

"See you later Pep" Tony said leaping up from the loveseat to give her a hug "now Pepper has gone does anyone want food?"

Well that started the conversation up pretty quickly now everyone was arguing about what food they wanted. After about an hour of all the avengers arguing about what choice of food they all wanted they settled on some pizza from Tony's favourite pizza parlour.

"What toppings?" Tony asked the group in front of him, he regarded them as family so already could effectively guess what the avengers would choose.


End file.
